Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu's plan for "economic peace" will only prolong Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, the chief Palestinian negotiator wrote in an opinion piece published Saturday.

"Rather than ending the occupation, Netanyahu has proposed an 'economic peace' that would seek to normalize and better manage it," wrote Saeb Erekat in the Washington Post.

"Instead of a viable Palestinian state, his vision extends no further than a series of disconnected cantons with limited self-rule."

Netanyahu has said that instead of talking about contentious issues such as the status of Jerusalem, the first step to a lasting peace needs to be the fostering of the Palestinians' economic situation.